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She has since
had almost 20 surgical procedures to contain and treat the infection,
and is tentatively scheduled to have skin graft surgery on her legs, hospital spokeswoman Sandy Dees said.

Mrs Kuykendall also underwent
extensive hyperbaric oxygen therapy, but has not had to have any limbs
amputated, Ms Dees said. She has now been upgraded from critical to
'fair' condition.

First touch: Kuykendall 'grinned from ear to ear' when she held the babies, her brother said

Happy and healthy: Doctors deemed it safe for babies Abigail and Ian to be reunited with their mother

She has become more alert and responsive and has communicated by
blinking, pointing and mouthing words, family members said.

'She has improved tremendously over
the last week,' her husband Darren said. 'Although she is still in ICU,
we believe she is on the road to recovery. She looks more and more like
herself.'

Another woman is being treated for necrotizing fasciitis at Doctors Hospital in Augusta, Georgia.

Graduate student Aimee Copeland, 24, has lost one leg, both her hands and her
remaining foot after she was infected when she cut herself after falling
from a homemade zip line.

Doctors
blamed her infection on Aeromonos hydrophila bacteria, which are found
in fresh or brackish water and may have entered the wound when she fell
into the river.

Torn away: She returned to hospital with a painful patch on her leg just 13 hours after returning home

Early detection: Mrs Kuykendall quickly recognized something was wrong as she is a paramedic. Her husband, Darren (pictured), said she has now improved and 'looks more and more like herself'

A third victim of the bacteria has been
identified as 32-year-old Bobby Vaughn who became infected when he fell
out of a tree and cut his side.

Vaughn has lost two pounds of flesh from
his groin and back since catching the aggressive bug. He went to the
doctor after the infection site grew from the size of a peanut to that
of a grapefruit and is recovering from five surgeries.

When it came to Mrs Kuykendall, she knew
something bad had happened when she spotted the spot on her leg and
began experiencing pain that wouldn't go away, the Greenville News reported.

She had been home from Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, where she gave birth to Ian and Abigail, for just 13 hours.

Her
husband took her to the hospital and within 90 minutes, she was in
emergency surgery. Doctors removed the dead, infected flesh on her leg
in the hopes that they could stop the bacteria from spreading.

Other victims: Aimee Copeland, 24, (left)
remains in the hospital after her leg, foot and both hands were
amputated. Grandmother Louise Thompson (right) had infected flesh removed from her leg

Also hit: Paul Bales (left) and Bobby Vaughn (right) have both been struck down by the infection

Outbreak: Mrs Kuykendall was initially taken to hospital in Georgia. Four other people have been infected with the horrific disease in the state after sustaining cuts and wounds

Before
she went into surgery, Mrs Kuykendall and her husband Darren watched in
horror as the infection visibly spread throughout her leg.

'And the longer she sat there, the
bigger that spot got. It was initially the size of a 3-by-5 index card.
But it got bigger and bigger,' Mr Kuykendall, a firefighter, told the
newspaper.

'It moved a quarter of an inch in half an hour. Then the high-risk OB physician had a suspicion of what it was.'

'(We're) still in disbelief that here is
my friend, who just had these two beautiful babies, and now she is
intubated upstairs, and not able to enjoy the bonding experience, and
enjoy the babies,' her friend Kayla Moon told MSNBC.

NECROTIZING FASCIITIS: WHAT CAUSES IT, AND WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS?

Necrotizing
fasciitis, more commonly known as 'flesh-eating disease', is a rare but
extremely vicious bacterial infection. 'Necrotizing' refers to
something that causes body tissue to die, and the infection can destroy
skin, muscles and fat.

The
disease develops when the bacteria enters the body, often through a
minor cut or scrape. As the bacteria multiply, they release toxins that
kill tissue and cut off blood flow to the area.

Because it is so virulent, the bacteria spreads rapidly throughout the body.

Symptoms
include small, red lumps or bumps on the skin, rapidly-spreading
bruising, sweating, chills, fever and nausea. Organ failure and shock
are also common complications.

Sufferers
must be treated immediately to prevent death, and are usually given
powerful antibiotics and surgery to remove dead tissue. Amputation can
become necessary if the disease spreads through an arm or leg.

Patients may undergo skin grafts after the infection has cleared up, to help the healing process or for aesthetic reasons.